Montreal and the M/V Exlporer

This is my first post related to the program I am about to embark on: Semester at Sea, http://www.semesteratsea.org, where I will be sailing on a ship for 111 days around the world visiting the following countries:

I will also apologize in advance for the lack of or limited amount of photos I will be posting in the coming months as I will have very slow and limited internet, I will do my best to update the site in writing though!

I am currently in Montreal, preparing myself for this journey of a lifetime.

Attached is a photo of my home and campus for the next 111 days, the M/V Explorer docked in the port in Montreal.

MONTREAL:

I spent around 1.5 days touring and exploring some of Montreal, mainly the old town. I must say it is quite a quaint and nice city. The local government does a good job in preserving the region’s heritage and history by having laws that forbid the destruction of old and colonial buildings. Thus the old town is maintained very well and is reminiscent of a quaint coastal European town. Hence why some people call it “Little Paris.” In fact the extent of the law can be seen in the restaurant Boris Bistro where the garden seating is located in an area once occupied by the main structure of a building destroyed by a fire, the only part remaining of the building was the front wall and doors which still remain because they were not allowed to destroy it. By the way Boris Bistro was delicious and had a nice ambiance for a good lunch. http://www.borisbistro.com, next time you are in Montreal you should check it out.

One great way to explore the city if you were like us and got a bit tired from traveling, is to take a gray line double deck bus tour or the duckie boat tours. We opted for the duckie boat tours, which spent 30 minutes touring the old town by land and then toured the port and river by water. It wasnt too expensive and the guide was good and knew a lot about the buildings and history of Montreal.

What to eat: a must in Montreal is the crepes, now I have never been to France so I cant say how it compares to that in France, but I can say that the crepes I have eaten here are definitely the best I have had. Whether its the entree crepes or dessert crepes all of them are delicious. Another must have Montreal dish is the Poutine, french fries with cheese and gravy and there are many varieties that have other toppings on it, we tried the one topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions, it sounds heavy but trust me: It was amazing. One nice thing is that a lot of things are made with or eaten with local maple syrup, which is not as sweet as the maple syrup often served in American diners and restaurants. One other dish that was really good was a foie gras dish I had at Boris Bistro, it was a croissant like pastry stuffed with foie gras and drizzled with a cider vinaigrette, very delicious and not too heavy.